Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a 1995 Honda Prelude that is the first car I ever owned. She has been reliable and I really love her. I bought her in 2003 (I grew up without much money so I was 20 when I bought her). This past year she needed a new alternator and new rotors which my husband had put on. This past weekend muddy sludge was coming out of the radiator so my husband took her to the mechanic and the radiator was cracked so the installed a new one (they couldn’t run any other tests to see if more was wrong with her due to the radiator) When they went to test it after install the fluids and oil were mixing so now they think she either had a bad head gasket or a cracked engine block. The radiator cost us over $500 and the head gasket would be over $1200 and the engine block over $2000. The mechanic felt bad for us after we just put the money into the radiator so he offered to tow it to our house for free. He said he can determine what is wrong with the Prelude for $300 but we aren’t wanting to put another minimum of $1200 if it’s the gasket. My husband has told them to hold off on towing her until we make a decision though because he is sad also. I am so attached to her and have literally sobbed over this for so long. There’s 210000 miles on her and the a/c hasn’t worked for years and neither does the ABS system so we know even if she was running we can’t get much money out of her. I just don’t know if I’m ready to let her go. Does anyone have any advice on how to get past the emotional attachment? And we’re you ever not able to get rid of a car because of it?
I keep a car that is giving good service no matter the cost unless.......the body or frame is rusted to the point of failure. Don't let the resale ,or trade in value, cloud your judgment about keeping the car. Any car is worth nothing unless YOU believe it is to YOU!
I've never assigned a gender to a car (am I the only one?) - it's a car and yes if you've had it for a long time there are memories but ..... it's not a person.
I have a 1995 Honda Prelude that is the first car I ever owned. She has been reliable and I really love her. I bought her in 2003 (I grew up without much money so I was 20 when I bought her). This past year she needed a new alternator and new rotors
(snip)
I am so attached to her and have literally sobbed over this for so long. There’s 210000 miles on her and the a/c hasn’t worked for years and neither does the ABS system so we know even if she was running we can’t get much money out of her. I just don’t know if I’m ready to let her go. Does anyone have any advice on how to get past the emotional attachment? And we’re you ever not able to get rid of a car because of it?
LOL. Sobbing over a busted up, twenty-four year old Honda that isn't a McLaren-built F1 car, haven't heard that one lately. I might sob over a wrecked La Ferrari or '32 supercharged Duesenberg Model J. Or if my 911 blew up. None of those are likely events, though.
Get rid of it, it's craptastic, if that's your question. Enough with the sunk costs. Drive it off a cliff, leave it in a 7-11 parking lot with the keys in it, running, door open. Don't throw good money after bad. Not even sure my '07 Tacoma would make 210K miles (probably would), and by that time it's time to go because it too would be twenty-something years old.
Decent non-craptastic used cars usually start at about $10K, up to maybe $30K for something newer and interesting. I just looked up 3-4 year old Subaru BRZs, ranging $17K - 20K with low miles. Certainly where I'd start, for an equivalent 21st Century sports couple that is tons of fun.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
2,254 posts, read 2,738,942 times
Reputation: 3203
I know the feeling. I have several vehicles that I bought new, including a 1987 Land Cruiser, that I just can't part with. That being said, if any of my vehicles were this old and this far gone I would have to let it go. You need to do the same. Go get a different car that you can love the same way. You'll soon move on.
Another option is to get a loan. I appreciate your personal feelings for the car but there is a time to let it go. You could get a loan to cover such repairs but when it comes to this level of repairs, more repairs are coming soon and you may not have enough to cover these future repairs. I had a similar soft spot for my 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier RS. When a truck hit my car I could have paid money to fix the damage (more than the value of the car) or take the insurance check towards the purchase of another vehicle. I still miss that Cavalier but I know it would be in horrible condition today if I still had it. Just your car’s body and suspension are worth money to a collector or enthusiast.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
